he history behind the Bow Valley Ranche is rich and colourful. It has played a large role in many different facets of Calgary's history, with many famous founders having lived on, or been associated with the property............

1873:
John Glenn,  an itinerant prospector, squatted near the confluence of the Bow River and Fish Creek. There he erected a log cabin and traded goods to local Indians between the spring of 1874 and the late summer of 1875.

1875:
Glenn erected a permanent log house near the same site and cultivated several acres of land. These actions have long been taken to signify the beginnings of agricultural settlement in the Calgary region.

1878-9: Glenn arranged for the construction of several buildings on his farmsite, which served as the nucleus of a stopping house/general store operation serving those travelling to Fort Calgary from the south.

1879: The Dominion Government, seeking to ameliorate the famine conditions prevailing among prairie natives, established a series of farm training centres for the Indians. Edgar Dewdney, the newly-appointed Indian Commissioner in the northwest, purchased John Glenn's improvements to the Fish Creek site and set up Indian Supply Farm #24, or even more commonly as the Government Farm. Dewdney hired a local carpenter to construct a more suitable dwelling house for the farming instructor, Ontario-born Thomas Wright. This building, situated to the immediate north of the present ranch house, was the nucleus for a cluster of five buildings. The extant log building to the northeast of the main house is all that remains of this cluster. The Glenn buildings served as stables and warehouses.

1882: The inefficiency of the Supply Farm prompted the Dominion Government to close it upon completion of harvest in 1882. Even before this decision became public knowledge, the Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec, Theodore Robitaille, indicated his interest in purchasing the site for the sum of $10,000.

1883:
Robitaille purchased the Government Farm, despite much competition from Calgary area ranches, for $3 per acre. From his extant correspondence, it seems clear he was speculating in the sale of lands to incoming settlers. It is also possible that he was told that the land might lay in the path of the CPR mainline, as he attempted to sell it as town lots. All transactions were handled through Calgary real estate agent, J. K. Oswald. The onset of a general depression, manifesting itself chiefly in the form of a land crash in the Northwest, quashed Robitaille's speculative plans. He then leased the land to the first of several local ranchers.

1887:
William Roper Hull, an entrepreneur in the meat-packing business in British Columbia and Alberta and owner of other Alberta ranches, leased the Government Farm from Robitaille.

1892:
Robitaille finally settled his outstanding account with the Dominion government for the purchase of the Government Farm, gained clear title to the property, and immediately sold it to William Roper Hull.

1895:
Hull had already established a stock farm of some 4500 acres, 800 of which were irrigated with water diverted from both the Bow River and Fish Creek. His irrigation works became a model of efficiency, and were used unofficially by the Dominion Government in its efforts to encourage such systems in southern Alberta.

1896: After fire reportedly destroyed the original dwelling house on the site, Hull hired pre-eminent Calgary architect James Llewellyn Wilson to design the present main house. Construction was nearly completed by the end of 1896. The cost of the structure was said to be between $3500 and $4000. It immediately became a focus of the social activities of Calgary-area British gentility.

c.1900: Landscape development was already noticeable at Bow Valley Ranche, as Hull renamed his property. This was particularly evident in the front yard, where an English perennial garden was bordered by deciduous trees, all within a white picket fence. Screening of the more utilitarian backyard was also undertaken.

1902: Hull sold the entire property, including staff and house furnishings, to Patrick Burns, the noted meat packer headquartered at Calgary. Burns renamed the site the Bow Valley Ranch, although it soon became better known as the Bow Valley Farm, reflecting a new emphasis on stock holding and fattening to serve the Calgary abattoir.

1903: The character of the ranch altered as Burns modified the landscaping in significant ways, allowed Hull's irrigation systems to lay idle, and failed to entertain socially on the scale previously known. The ranch became much more a place to be visited by dignitaries and foreign journalists than a social centre for Calgary's elite citizens.

1904-6: Burns' foreman, T. W. Bannister, continued to live with his family in the upstairs of the North Wing of the main house until this time. An expanding family prompted Burns to secure the extant Foreman's House from the Schroeder property to the south for the accommodation of the Bannisters. A windmill for pumping water was situated on the southeast corner of the present Foreman's House yard, and the "little Field" between this structure and the main house was developed as a buffer zone with the function of a horse paddock.

1909: Bow Valley Farm became the property of P. Burns and Co. Ltd.

1911: Hull's irrigation system was declared inactive and inadequate by federal authorities. Given the chance to revitalize the system and regain the right to divert water form the Bow River and Fish Creek, Burns fails to act. This is the effective end of irrigation on the property.

1912: The livestock holding and feeding functions of Bow Valley Farm had become its dominant characteristics by this time. Social functions diminished markedly and the farm served as the gathering place for little other than P. Burns and Co. picnics.

1916: The present bridge across Fish Creek to the west of the building complex was constructed. This structure replaced the traditional fording spot located just to the north.

1918: Major redevelopment of the site occurred as Burns initiated construction of the present implement shed, bunkhouse, and a 64-horse barn (now destroyed), together with ancillary structures like corrals and tool sheds. The focal point of activity on the ranch site shifted to the southeastern zone of occupation.

1928: P. Burns Ranches limited assumed control of the Bow Valley Farm. The total extent of the farm was now some 17,000 acres.

c.1935: To accommodate the increased number of ranch hands on the site, Burns arranged to have another bunkhouse moved to the property from the McInnes Ranch to the southwest, near Midnapore. This structure, now destroyed, was situated immediately south of the extant bunkhouse. The 1918 bunkhouse became the "Herdsman's Residence", reflecting the importance of stock operations at the site. Much vegetable gardening was also initiated on site to assist with the feeding of the ranch hands.

1937: Patrick Burns died.

1945: Patrick Burns nephew, John Burns, made Bow Valley Farm his permanent home and undertook marked renovations to the main house. These affected the character and function of the North Wing in particular. Interior fabric and decor was also subjected to drastic alteration.

c.1951: After the death of John Burns, his son R. J. (Dick) Burns occupied the main house permanently.

1957: Dick Burns undertook extensive renovations to the main house, including the addition of a large family room wing on the west side that served functions associated mainly with an in-ground swimming pool immediately north of the new wing. A tennis court was also installed.

c.1958: The 64-horse barn erected in 1918 burned to the ground. All that remains are the foundations.

c.1960: Access to the site, which had almost always been along a road leading in from Midnapore, changed to the Bow Bottom Trail, where it remains.

1969: Dick Burns moved out of the Bow Valley Farm house.

1973: The property was acquired by the Government of Alberta as part of Fish Creek Provincial Park.

1994: The Province of Alberta signed a tenant lease, permitting the renovation of the Foreman's House and the restoration of The Ranche House to its original turn of the century grandeur.

1995: The Ranche at Fish Creek Restoration Society was incorporated as a non-profit society in the Province of Alberta. Started by Larry and Mitzie Wasyliw, the society was established to restore the Bow Valley Ranche. A philanthropy progarm honouring pioneers was created to fund the project.

1996-7: The Foreman's House was renovated and opened to the public as Annie's Bakery & Cafe. A new roof was installed on The Ranche House.

1998-9: Restoration of The Ranche House commenced in the fall of 1998 and by the summer of 1999, the historic building opened to the public as The Ranche Restaurant.

2000: Construction of the Native Gardens was completed and the official grand opening of The Ranche House and Native Gardens occured in the summer of 2000, with several dignitaries and project sponsors in attendance.

2001: The Ranche House and adjacent land was designated as a Provincial Historic Resource by the Government of Alberta. The government determined that the preservation and protection of this resource was in the public interest. In addition, "Egg Money", a life-size bronze statue, honouring Canadian pioneer women, was unveiled in the Native Gardens.